Backyard photo studio

[toverman]

In my dreams, I'd have a little backyard studio that looks like one of these: www.tinytexashouses.com. I like the details of a few of the Victorians (other than the estimated prices!).

[JohnT]

I've often thought that I'd like to have a place in Southlake/Colleyville with enough room for a backyard studio, and I'd cater to the SL income bracket. However, that is only a dream at this moment.

[TexasPhotoBooth]

How neat!!
Maybe you can make it happen! That'd be awesome..

[toverman]

John, there is an artist in Colleyville who paints in a tree house. I've passed by her house a few times on the way to somewhere else: www.annhardy.com. She lives along John McCain Road among the huge, fancy houses.

[JohnT]

She does nice work too. I wouldn't mind owning a couple of her paintings.

[Cajungaltx]

Those are really awesome looking.

My husband and I were talking about this yesterday - having an on site studio. Our house is on the small side - 1503 square feet. We bought our house with one purpose in mind - a specific payment amount because one 'requirement' for both of us is that our daughters attend private Christian school.

Now... some of my clients have homes that are 2x the size of mine... and I always feel a bit uncomfortable having them come here for studio sessions... maybe it's just a 'mental' thing... but I think your home, if you are going to invite clients into it, should be on par, or higher quality than your clients homes.

So I've been considering an out of the home studio option... but then we come back to the reason that I work full time, FROM home... because we have a 20 month old... and I want to be at home with her until she starts school....

So... we are going to deal with staying put for now... he'll do his year long deployment...and hopefully the market will recover a bit, and we will be looking to move in a couple of years anyway. So we'll be focusing on a property with a separate studio option... Patience is a requirement...

[tresorph]

Or Donna, we could do something revolutionary and lease/build a Caroline Collective type of outfit out here in the West/NW Houston boonies. I think that would really be cool. (Oops I hijacked AGAIN! i'm soo bad lately)

[carrbowl]

If you think about it, you don't really need the entire building, all you need is the front. Think about how they build the store fronts when they do movie sets...they just build the front and prop it up. The other option is to paint things on your fence. I saw a friend who painted their entire fence with a scene..wildflowers, hills, etc. It was really different and made think it might be nice for photos...

[toverman]

Originally Posted by Cajungaltx

Now... some of my clients have homes that are 2x the size of mine... and I always feel a bit uncomfortable having them come here for studio sessions... maybe it's just a 'mental' thing... but I think your home, if you are going to invite clients into it, should be on par, or higher quality than your clients homes.

I have read similar things, that at least the furniture/props you use should be at least as nice as clients would have in their homes. A ghetto studio probably wouldn't work well with high-end clients. I would encourage you, though, not to equate size and newness with quality. Even some of the homes that are a few notches above the typical McMansion aren't all they're cracked up to be.

Used to subscribe to This Old House, and an article I clipped out to save was of a MicroSoft exec whose family moved onto a houseboat. Even though his co-workers lived in giant, lavishly appointed homes, parties often ended up at his place because it was much more inviting and intimate. Some paint, nice flooring and well-appointed furniture is sometimes all it takes to spruce up a home.